1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a blended yarn useful for the production of fabrics that have arc, flame, and flash fire protective properties, but also have improved comfort. This invention also relates to garments produced with such fabrics.
2. Description of Related Art
When protecting workers from potential flash fires with protective apparel the time of exposure to actual flame is an important consideration. Generally the term “flash” fire is used because the exposure to flame is of very short duration, on the order of seconds. Further, while the difference in a single second seems small, when exposed to fire, an additional second of exposure to a flame can mean a tremendous difference in the burn injury.
The performance of a material in a flash fire can be measured using an instrumented mannequin using the test protocol of ASTM F1930. The mannequin is clothed in the material to be measured, and then exposed to flames from burners; temperature sensors distributed throughout the mannequin measure the local temperature experienced by the mannequin that would be the temperatures experienced by a human body if subjected to the same amount of flames. Given a standard flame intensity, the extent of the burns that would be experienced by a human, (i.e., first degree, second degree, etc.) and the percent of the body burned can be determined from the mannequin temperature data.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,348,059 to Zhu et al. discloses modacrylic/aramid fiber blends for use in arc and flame protective fabrics and garments. Such blends have on average a high content (40-70 weight percent) modacrylic fiber and lower content (10 to 40 weight percent) meta-aramid fiber having a degree of crystallinity of at least 20%, and para-aramid fiber (5 to 20 weight percent). Fabrics and garments made from such blends provide protection from electrical arcs and exposures to flash fires up to 3 seconds. United States Patent Application Publication US2005/0025963 to Zhu discloses an improved fire retardant blend, yarn, fabric and article of clothing made from a blend of 10-75 parts of at least one aramid staple fiber, 15 to 80 parts by weight of at least one modacrylic staple fiber, and 5 to 30 parts by weight of at least one aliphatic polyamide staple fiber. This blend will not provide a Category 2 arc rating for fabrics in the range of 186.5 to 237 grams per square meter (5.5 to 7 ounces per square yard) because of the high proportion of flammable aliphatic polyamide fiber in this blend. U.S. Pat. No. 7,156,883 to Lovasic et al. discloses a fiber blend, fabrics, and protective garments comprising amorphous meta-aramid fiber, crystallized meta-aramid fiber, and flame retardant cellulosic fiber, the meta-aramid fiber being 50 to 85 weight percent with one to two thirds of the meta-aramid fiber being amorphous and with two to one third of the meta-aramid fiber being crystalline. Again, fabrics made by these blends would not provide a Category 2 arc rating for fabrics in the range of 186.5 to 237 grams per square meter (5.5 to 7 ounces per square yard).
The minimum performance required for flash fire protective apparel, per the NFPA 2112 standard, is less than 50% body burn from a 3 second flame exposure. Since flash fire is a very real threat to workers in some industries, and it is not possible to fully anticipate how long the individual will be engulfed in flames, any improvement in the flash fire performance of protective apparel fabrics and garments has the potential to save lives. In particular, if the protective apparel can provide enhanced protection to fire exposure above 3 seconds, e.g. 4 seconds or more, this represents an increase in potential exposure time of as much as 33% or more. Flash fires represent one of the most extreme types of thermal threat a worker can experience; such threats are much more severe than the simple exposure to a flame.
Unfortunately, increasing the performance of such protective apparel can make them more uncomfortable to wear and increase the physical stress on already stressed emergency responders. In some industrial situations workers may actually forego protection because of comfort issues. Therefore, any improvement that provides improved comfort to this high performance apparel without sacrificing flame, flash fire, or arc protection is desired.